Mafish Faiydah? A Case Study on Myth and Silenced Voices Offered By Kareem MegahedOn Sunday mornings from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm and evenings from 5:30 pm to 8:30 pm

Mafish faiydah?? A Case Study on Myth and Silenced Voices.Rationale:Amid the independence negotiations with the British authorities, Sa'ad Zaghloul, the much praised nationalist leader of 1919 'revolution' said "mafish fayda"- no point- in reference to the complexity of the negotiation process. The story is true...at least according to an urban legend we all grow up hearing. Recently, however, a different interpretation to origins of the phrase came up. In accordance, it is claimed that Zaghloul said the aforementioned phrase to his wife few moments before his death when she offered him an additional shot of medicine. So, while it might be difficult to determine the authenticity of both suggestions, the story around the phrase mirrors a significant notion. Simply put, there is nothing as 'mafish fayda' from questioning the reliability of the mainstream understanding of history we were taught. The space a for different interpretation and more narratives do exist in contrast to the nationalistic totalization and sentimentality inscribed within the dominant narratives of Egypt's history. Hence, comes the name of the course to call for a critical rereading of mainstream narratives regarded as factual such as with the case of Egypt's 1919 revolution.Ontology:Traditionally, Egyptian history revolves around an abstract idea of the 'nation' and public figures, as Ahmed Urabi, Zaghloul, T'alat Harb, who were and are continuously perceived as the benevolent nationalist heroes who took on the burden of representing the hopes and interests of this nation against colonial presence and dominance. Such a limited approach to history overlooks inquiries as: What is a nation and is it a tool used to reduce a society? How relevant are aspects as class, subaltern voices, violence/ resistance and contextuality to this discussion? Can the convergence of these factors generate internal causes of conflict and change beyond those given by nationalist rhetoric?Surely, one cannot claim that it is for a lack of scholarly counter attempts that the traditional interpretation of key events as the 1919 'revolution' are still held high in the public perception. Rather, the success of the nationalist reading as a persuasion tool can be rationalized by taking into consideration two main reasons. First, as seen in the history curricula approved, the state encourages maintaining such heroic portrayals sanctifying the memory of these figures and the events they were involved in without any critical reading to their motives. It can be argued that the state is restraining any critical attempts of rereading the dominant narratives in fear of shaking the people's faith in figures from which it (state) had always drew parts of its legitimacy. The law against 'insulting" historical figures currently discussed in the Egyptian parliament is a case in point.Second, is the theoretically flawed approach of some of the other non-nationalist approaches weakening the reliability of their conclusions, mainly reductionist Marxism and Orientalist writings. Some Egyptian Marxists used to deploy Marx's logic of capitalist development in Europe indiscriminately on the case of Egypt ( the stages theory, the automatic development of consciousness,...etc). Therefore, their reductionist or unquestioned dogmatic interpretations about the classes' formation, their consciousness and independence (from both ruling class and colonialism) did not always relate to the reality of Egypt's history. On a similar note, orientalist writings categorized non-European societies as static in nature and incapable of independent change. Hence, their over-emphasis on aspects as religion and progressiveness of European intervention mirrors their disregard to the internal causes calling for change.Objectives and methodology:Based on the above, the main objective of this course is to encourage participants to reread history critically and to utilize a wide variety of sources to achieve that end. It is primarily designed to focus on Egypt's 1919 revolution as a case study through a group of alternative narratives and readings to those advanced by the nationalist approach. In other words, the course sheds the light on the circumstances/ developments leading to the events of 1919 and what followed it from unconventional perspectives. The 1919 revolution was chosen due to its importance as a classic case of Egyptian nationalism and how it came to affect (and shape) the Egyptian society up to 1952. Even more, traces of the event's influence can be felt up until now in the reminiscent recalling of the event's heroics. The religious unity of the masses, the struggle for independence and Harb's economic wisdom are some of the recurring themes related to the event. Additionally, to set up and substantiate the critical approach desired here, the course will include a part to theoretical discussions. Therefore, the course will extended the space to engage will all sorts of opinions.Nevertheless, achieving this goal requires debating history as a discipline, schools of reading history and primary knowledge of Egypt's economic history before moving into the case of 1919. All in all, the approach the course will generally adopt will highlight the main below points of entry to reading history:

Introduce history as a social science and the different schools of reading/ interpreting history.

Familiarize participants with prime concepts as dialectics, discourse, conditionality, cultural hegemony and history from below.

Present basic understandings of Egyptian economic history and political economy.

Set forth notions as the formation of local elites and subaltern classes, their relation/antagonism with each other and colonialism (the crystallization of local social forces).

Discuss the rise of the nationalism phenomena in the context of early 20th Century Egypt and its relation to violence.

So, the course targets participants willing to explore history interdisciplinary and critically away from mainstream depictions. Yet, it is understandable how dependence on academic materials solely can be unappealing especially with topics as history and from which people usually complain about its dryness before losing interest. Therefore, the course's reading materials, a mix of primary and secondary sources in Arabic and English, will be complemented with visual/cultural materials such as newspapers, films, poems, songs, literature and art. This is both to ease/ encourage participants to develop their own arguments freely and to reflect on how different approach to history do affect our daily lives and perceptions. As well as to enjoy thinking about Egyptian history critically. Finally, participants will be allowed to choose from a group of assessment methods such debates, research papers and presentations. Any additional tasks will be discussed with the participants beforehand agreeing on any.​The Course preliminary structure:Week 1: What isHistory?- History as a Social Science.Carr, Edward Hallett. " What is History?". Vintage Books, 1961.Jenkins, Keith. " Re-thinking History". Routledge, 1991.Khaldūn, Ibn and Charles Philip Issawi. "An Arab Philosophy of History: Selections from the Prolegomena of Ibn Khaldun of Tunis (1332-1406)". American University in Cairo Press, 1992.Week 2:Schools of History-Part 1Green, Anna and Troup, Kathleen. "The house of history: A critical reader in twentieth-century history and theory". New York University Press, 1999.Gorman, Anthony. Historians, State, and Politics in Twentieth Century Egypt: Contesting the Nation. London: New York: Routledge, 2003. Week 3:Schools of History-Part 2Green, Anna and Troup, Kathleen. "The house of history: A critical reader in twentieth-century history and theory". New York University Press, 1999.Swyngedouw, E. "Dialectical reasoning and Dialectical Materialism" in R. Kitchin and N. " Thrift International Encyclopedia of Human Geography", Elsevier Inc, 2009.Achcar, Gilbert. " Marxism, Orientalism, Cosmpolitanism", Saqi Book, 2013. Safran, Nadav. " Egypt in search of a Political Community: An analysis of the intellectual and political evolution of Egypt, 1804-1952. Harvard University Press, 1961.Week 4:" Ya Aziz Ya Aziz...Dahya Takhod al-engleez" (يا عزيز يا عزيز...داهية تاخد الانجليز) and "Ahl el benok we al-atyan...tharo 'ala al-'ayan 'ayan...wi ebn al-bald mashy 'ayran..ma-m'aah wala ha' al-dokhan...shorom boromhaly galban" ")أهل البنوك والأطيان صاروا... على الأعيان أعيان ...وابن البلد ماشي عريان... ممعاه ولا حق الدخان... شرم برم حالي غلبان("- Colonialism, the rise of Egyptian local elites and formation of subaltern classes.Owen, Roger. " The Middle East in the World Economy,1800-1914". I.B Tauris and Co., 2009. ---, "The Attitudes of British Officials to the Development of the Egyptian Economy, 1882-1922" in M. Cook's Studies in the Economic History of the Middle East: From the Rise of Islam to the Present Day. Oxford University Press, 1970.Richards, Alan. "Primitive Accumulation in Egypt, 1798-1882." Review (Fernand Braudel Center) 1, no. 2 (1977): 3-49.

Owen, Roger "The ideology of Economic Nationalism in its Egyptian Context:1919-1939 in Marwan Buheiry's Intellectual life in the Arab East, 1890-1939. Beirut: The American University in Beirut Press, 1981.

Vitalis, Robert. "On the Theory and Practice of Compradors: The Role of ʿAbbud Pasha in the Egyptian Political Economy." International Journal of Middle East Studies 22, no. 3 (1990): 291-315.

Novel: al-Rihla (الرحلة)- Fekri al-Khouly, 2015.

N.B: This is a preliminary list of the materials to be used in the course. It does not include all of the non-academic materials and is subject to change. Only parts of this list are to be used. Participants will not assigned full books to read. Rather, just a number of pages from the books to be chosen. Finally the slogans, verses and quotes used above were extracted from the following sources:

Kareem Megahed finished his masters in Political Economy at the University of Manchester in 2017. He holds a bachelor of Arts in Political Science and History from the American University in Cairo. His interests revolves around Marxist theory, subaltern studies, economic history, political economy and utilizing them for rereading modern Egyptian History. Previously, he worked as a teaching assistant in the department of Political Science in the American University in Cairo (AUC) in 2014, before joining the Economic and Business History Research Center(EBHRC) as a researcher. For two years, he dealt with oral narratives of individuals related to Egypt's business and economic community from the Nasserite era and onwards, in addition to narratives of the labour movement against privatization in the 2000. Megahed is also an avid football fan who enjoys seeing el-Ahly fans weeping and a meme enthusiast.